Japanese Journal of Human Geography
Online ISSN : 1883-4086
Print ISSN : 0018-7216
ISSN-L : 0018-7216
Volume 37, Issue 6
Displaying 1-5 of 5 articles from this issue
  • Hideaki UEHARA
    1985 Volume 37 Issue 6 Pages 485-512
    Published: December 28, 1985
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The purpose of this study is to propose a model that could explain traditional rural society from a spatial approach. Furthermore, I think that the traditional rural society should be discussed from the standpoint of the spatial forms or spatial design of the village people. To study the subject the author first of all investigated the structure of spatial forms that are regarded as the arrangement of the constituent elements on the rural space, including the patterns of settlement, arable land and forest land. Moreover, I have clarified the formation of social groups and their role within the rural space. Therefore, objectives of this analysis are (A) to describe the evolution process of the life-space and (B) propose a model to exlain the spatial structure of the traditional rural society. In order to explain the subject, the author deals with a hanseison, Gochoda in Koma-gun of Kai (Yamanashi Prefecture) that is located on the southern side of the Mt. Yatsugatake.
    The results of this study are summarized as follows:
    (A) The evolution process of the life-space.
    (1) The first stage: from the latter Middle Ages until just prior to the Kanbun Era (1661). The homesteads of the period were loosely concentrated or scattered on a ridge of gentle slope. In this stage early pioneer families or head families (nakee), of the consanguineous maki bands were scattered on a ridge. Cultivated lands as productive space were not sufficiently reclaimed and the wasteland still occupied about 20% of the total land area.
    (2) The second stage: from the Kanbun Era (1661) to the Horeki Era (1751-). Rural population increased markedly and consequently, within a hanseison (administrative village) several hamlets or Weiler emerged. It is assumed that these hamlets would correspond to the consanguineous maki bands, which (organized into a head family with its branch families) were already in existence and organized by this period.
    Analyzing the distribution of arable lands, it becomes evident that each farmer was given rights to specific arable land, that is to say, a furlong. The domain of the hanseison, Gochoda was demarcated by the Land Survey in 1666 (Kanbun Kenchi). Several hamlets were integrated into a hanseison through the irrigation association.
    (3) The third stage: from the Horeki Era (1751-) to the last days of the Tokugawa regime. Rural population had already reached the limits of the agricultural productivity of those days. The consanguineous maki bands had been weakened by the end of the Tokugawa Period, while small territorial groups, goningumi, lost their administrative significance but strenghtened their economic or social functions more and more. Dosogin organization, which seemed to fulfill the integral function of the mura (natural village), had gradually been established. Disputes with surrounding hanseisons had broken out by the land reclamation of common land (i. e. communal land, forest land etc.) at the southern side of the Mt. Yatsugatake.
    (B) Spatial structure of the rural settlemants at the foot of the mountain.
    At the foot of the mountain, the topographical conditions spread out with ridges of gentle slope alternating between valleys with streams. Generally, hamlets were located on the ridges which were disadvantageous for paddy fields. The population size was affected by historical factors as well as by the extent of ridge. In particular, rural settlements along the main traffic route might have become the center of a hanseison.
    Arable lands as productive space (i. e. a paddy field, an upland field, etc.) were divided into several furlongs according to the complexity of ridges and especially the uplands were located at the periphery of the hamlets or in places which lacked irrigation water.
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  • Kohei OKAMOTO
    1985 Volume 37 Issue 6 Pages 513-532
    Published: December 28, 1985
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In an effort to analyze human travel-activity patterns, this paper clarifies the effects of the individual characteristics of urban residents on their outdoor behavior patterns which contain two dimensions: their socio-demographics and their location within a city. Previous studies have investigated mainly the relationship between travel and socio-demographic factors, while few works examine the impact of location factors. Socio-demographics in themselves, however, depend on the location within a city, as earlier social area analysts have found. This paper, therefore, focuses on how social area structure influences outdoor behavior patterns.
    The outdoor behavior pattern is described by the chain of travel purposes in which the individual leaves his home and returns there again. The following are found to be the main patterns the residents follow and their percentages among all the outdoor behavior:
    1. Outdoor Discretionary Activity→Return Home (24%)
    2. Attending School→Return Home (22%)
    3. Attending Work→Return Home (22%)
    4. Outdoor Business Activity→Return Home (6%)
    5. Outdoor Discretionary Activity→Outdoor Discretionary Activity→Return Home (3%)
    6. Attending Work→Outdoor Business Activity→Return to Work Place→Return Home (2%)
    7. Attending Work→Outdoor Discretionary Activity→Return Home (2%)
    8. Attending Work→Outdoor Discretionary Activity→Return to Work Place→Return Home (1%)
    Fifteen percent of all residents never went out of their home all day, which is the ninth pattern.
    As the result of this analysis, it become clear that the socio-demographics and social area structures have strong impact on the generation and location of stops of outdoor behavior patterns, that is:
    (1) The commuting patterns are divided into two types: White-collar commuters, who reside mainly in the eastern area of Nagoya city, tend to perform multipurpose travel toward the city core (Patterns 6, 7, 8). Blue-collar commuters, residing in the western area, take the simple round trip between home and the nearer work place (Pattern 3).
    (2) In the discretionary activity patterns (Patterns 1, 5), most stops occur at areas near-by residents homes. All the same, the residents in the eastern area tend to engage in their activities at the city core during the course of multi-purpose travel, as well as in their commuting patterns.
    (3) Attending school pattern (Pattern 2) is performed by students and pupils. Because they are concentrated in suburban areas, the generation of this pattern is remarkable in the outer zone of a city.
    (4) Business activity pattern (Pattern 4) is performed mainly by the workers whose work places correspond to their own residences. They are concentrated in the urban core area, so that the pattern is distinctive there.
    (5) The ninth pattern is also conspicuous in the urban core area, because people who never went out of their home are mainly elderly or the jobless, and they are concentrated in the urban core area.
    In summary, the commuting patterns and the discretionary activity patterns were closely related to the sectoral pattern of urban social area structure, while the other outdoor behavior patterns reflected the concentric structure.
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  • Keiji KUSHIYA
    1985 Volume 37 Issue 6 Pages 533-551
    Published: December 28, 1985
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • A Case study of the Kofu City Region, Yamanashi Prefecture
    Atsushi SUZUKI
    1985 Volume 37 Issue 6 Pages 552-569
    Published: December 28, 1985
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Suburbs have been formed into areas which are highly mobilized by the transfer of various urban functions from the central zone of a city. This phenomenon is caused by worsening environmental conditions in the central zone of the city and improved transportation facilities in suburbs. What further quickens such development is the agglomeration of medium- and small-sized enterprises being re-located at suburbs. This paper examines the suburbanization of urban functions in relation to the wholesale establishment which normally is dependent on the central part of city.
    This paper attempts to clarify the effect of wholesalers' transfers to a wholesale trade center in the suburbs and its influence on the local community, and also aims at studying various problems that may arise from establishing a wholesale trade center in an urban region. The Kofu City region of Yamanashi Prefecture was chosen as a case study and the results are summarized as follows:
    1. Most of the wholesale establishments now operating at the wholesale trade center built at Tatomi-Machi in 1977 originally moved from the Renjaku wholesale district at 4-and 5- chome, Chuo, Kofu City (Fig. 2). The major reasons for their transfer were the limited space of stores and warehouses and the expansion of business operation. This is particularly fore in the wholesaling of food and beverages, stationery and general merchandise, where there has been an increase in the variety of goods (Tab. 4).
    2. The wholesalers' relocation to the trade center improved the business environment greatly. In particular, stationery and general merchandise, clothing and apparel wholesalers gained a remarkable improvement in their business (Tab. 5). The improvement resulted in expansion of market area and increased sales volume (Tab. 6). As a consequence of this relocation, the commuting sphere of workers in the wholesale trade center was extended, and doubled in commuting distance (Fig. 3). That is, suburbanization of establishments promoted the increase of employment in suburbs of Kofu City.
    3. 40.6% of the wholesalers who relocated retained operation of their old establishments, and the rest disposed of them to others (Tab. 7). Among the retained stores, 40.6% are being operated as retail facilities (Tab. 8). This tendency is seen more in chemical products, machinery and equipment, stationery and general merchandise wholesalers, and is much stronger in the central zone. As a whole, however, the upgrade to more intensive land uses has not been so extensive in the central zone; there are still less intensive land uses such as parking, warehouses and vacant land on the sites.
    4. Taking as an example clothing and apparel, the linkage between the retailers in Yamanashi Prefecture and the wholesalers in the wholesale trade center has become strong, and conversely the linkage between the retailers in Yamanashi Prefecture and the wholesalers in the Renjaku wholesale district has weakened (Fig. 4). Consequently, the Renjaku wholesale district has changed to function as a place to supply small-scale retailers (Fig. 5).
    5. The suburbanization of wholesale establishments accompanied with the setup of the wholesale trade center caused the concentrated wholesale business area to be polarized into two agglomerations. In the Renjaku wholesale district, in the center of Kofu City, from which many of the establishments were transfered, there has not been progress in more intensive land uses; the deteriorating establishments contributed further to stagnation of the district. On the other hand, the business establishments operating in the wholesale trade center, with the advantage of benefits gained by means of improved collective business operation, are poised to resist the advance of the Tokyo wholesalers' expansion into the area. It is clear that the wholesale trade center has grown as a new distribution base for the city.
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  • 1985 Volume 37 Issue 6 Pages 570-572
    Published: December 28, 1985
    Released on J-STAGE: April 28, 2009
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Download PDF (432K)
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